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"Stylized Purple Coneflowers"

[photographed in sunlight so that the shadows show the texture of the acrylic paint]

As I was looking at the grid of artwork today that FASO sends out daily, a thought struck me… well, actually, several thoughts. Since I did not post anything new to my website yesterday, my first thought was at that least I didn’t have to try and find my painting today in the grid of artwork. I often mention to my husband about my inability to find my own artwork in the grid after I have posted a painting to my website. I have figured out that since all of the things that I have put into my paintings are there for a reason, so when I only see a small part of my artwork, I frequently don’t recognize it. Sometimes what is cropped out is what I consider integral to the piece. I makes me wonder that if this essential part is not seen, would someone still look at my work. This led me to the next thought…. what stimulates someone to select the artwork that they look at?

We all lead very busy lives, so it is impossible to look at every piece of art on display, whether on FASO’s Daily Art Show, on the Web or in galleries. What is it about artwork that catches my eye? Is the subject matter a personal favorite or something completely new? Am I looking at a piece as competition to what I paint, or as a chance to learn something new by looking at it? Have the artists put a new twist on a concept, such as a new way to view landscapes, wildlife, or a still life? Brushwork can be hard to determine in small thumbnails and sometimes I am surprised to see how the piece looks when enlarged. All of my styles of painting have a cohesive core…. color. As a colorist, am I drawn to the pieces that utilize my favorite color schemes, or are artists using color schemes that I haven’t used yet from which I can learn?

Artwork can be viewed as a type of advertising. Don’t get me wrong, I am not talking about the esoteric quality of the artwork. I wholeheartedly believe that art can touch you in such a way that it can take your breath away as you connect with it. I like to think that is why people buy my paintings….that the piece make them feel good every time that they look at it, for that’s why I buy art. When paintings are displayed to the public, however, we artists are advertising our way of seeing the world. What are others perceptions of my creations when displayed on FASO’s Daily Art Show? Trying to achieve objectivity, I use utilize many techniques. As when using a mirror, reversing the image on the computer or any of the countless other ways I check my artwork’s integrity, I use this little square to see how my work measures up. How does my work standout on the FASO Daily Art Show so that others will check it out?

When coming up with ideas about what I want to paint, I try to always think of a different approach in either some or all topics of subject matter, color usage, perspective, application, etc. Am I always successful? I’d like to think that I am but I know that I am not. Early in my art adventure, I attended a watercolor workshop. Copying the style of the instructor at any workshop that I attended helped me to understand what they were trying to teach. A fellow student came over to where I was painting and asked if I had bought one of the instructor’s pieces. If you are familiar with my blogs, this is the artist who made a point on his brushes with his mouth, which gagged the then pregnant me. He is same man who came over to my piece and started scratching “grass” on my painting, without my permission, telling me that I was working too hard on creating the grass, and then walked away, leaving me to try and fix my piece. This fixed piece is the one that was thought to be his. After he got wind of how my painting looked so much like his, he checked it out. At lecture time, he made the statement that he “really questioned the value of a painting that is easily reproduced”. Now I don’t know if being pregnant made that statement stick in my mind, or that fact that he was targeting my piece, but I can remember it like it was yesterday. It has helped me to be a better painter, however, because always in my mind before I start a piece, I think… has this been done before…. could someone else easily do the same thing……what have I done to make it stand out?

How does your artwork standout so that others will check it out?